Mets' Jessica Mendoza Clarifies Criticism of Mike Fiers over Sign-Stealing
Jessica Mendoza, a baseball operations adviser with the New York Mets and ESPN MLB analyst, has clarified remarks she made regarding Mike Fiers serving as a whistleblower in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Appearing on ESPN Radio's Golic & Wingo, Mendoza was critical of Fiers for going "public with [his comments] and call [the Astros] out and start all of this, it's hard to swallow."
In a statement clarifying those comments, Mendoza said MLB "will benefit greatly because this sign-stealing matter was uncovered" and she only disagreed "with the manner in which" Fiers broke the news through the media instead of "going directly through your team and/or MLB."
When The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich broke the story about the Astros' use of video equipment to steal signs from opposing teams during the 2017 season, Fiers went on the record to confirm the setup existed.
"I told the teams I was on, I didn't know how far the rules went with MLB, but I knew they [the Astros] were up to date, if not beyond," he said. "I had to let my team know so that we were prepared when we went to go play them at Minute Maid."
Rosenthal and Drellich's report, along with Fiers' comments, led to MLB opening an investigation into the Astros.
On Monday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released findings from the investigation, which confirmed Houston used a camera and video equipment to steal signs in 2017 and part of the 2018 regular season.
Manfred announced Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch received one-year suspensions. The team also received a fine of $5 million and loss of first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.
Houston owner Jim Crane announced that same day Luhnow and Hinch had been fired for their roles in the scandal.
The fallout continued as the Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora "mutually agreed to part ways" after Cora—the Astros' bench coach in 2017—was implicated in the report. The Red Sox remain under investigation and Cora is expected to receive punishment from the league as well.
Mets manager Carlos Beltran, who played for the Astros in 2017, also agreed to step down Thursday after being the only player named in MLB's report, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.
